Matilda Bay’s Non-Rapid Taste Test was a piece of direct mail sent to influencers and journalists around Australia. It took visual cues from the well-known COVID Rapid Antigen Tests and was mailed direct to media recovering from COVID. Inside was a can of delicious Wheat Ale and step-by-step instructions for the recipients to take the test and detect the flavours to see if their taste had officially returned.

Matilda Bay’s Aussie Wheat Ale was not just a new beer for the brand but a completely new style for the Australian market. Our objective was to drive awareness and trial amongst our target audience, ultimately driving pressure for retailers to stock the new beer. The creative brief was anchored in the product truth - that Matilda Bay’s new beer had been researched and performed off the charts in taste testing - and the cultural insight, that a current COVID wave saw a rise in Aussies losing their taste once again. We brought the product truth and cultural insight together to elevate taste in a disruptive way to earn unfair share of attention at launch.

Matilda Bay’s Aussie Wheat Ale is light, zesty and bursting with a taste like no other. Yet at the time of launch "taste", or lack thereof, was a trending tropic. Social media was experiencing an outbreak of posts from people who had temporarily lost their sense of taste due to the latest wave of COVID. We turned their positives into a positive. We found influencers and journalists who were recovering from COVID and sent them a Non-Rapid Taste Test, asking them to publicly take the test to determine if their taste receptors had fully recovered. The test appeared like any other, only inside was a can of delicious Wheat Ale with step-by-step instructions. Through the familiar language of internationally produced COVID tests, we outlined the four delicate flavours a healthy palate would detect. If our influencer or journalist could detect all four, their taste had officially returned.

Matilda Bay’s Aussie Wheat Ale had a truly unique taste. Yet with new craft beers being launched every day, we had to be distinctive and earn our share of attention. Our strategy was to take the product truth – that the beer had an exceptional taste profile – and bring it together with a cultural insight that taste, or lack thereof, was trending topic, due to the latest wave of COVID. In this way, we were able to hack the ‘taste’ conversation and put Matilda Bay’s Aussie Wheat Ale at the centre of it.

Non-Rapid Taste Test was designed to look and feel like a traditional Covid Rapid Taste Test. The design and copy emulated the clinical nature of the tests while pulling through branding cues from Matilda Bay’s Aussie Wheat Ale. Inside was a can of the beer accompanied with instructions – all written in Matilda’s Bay tongue and cheek tone of voice. Users were prompted to see if they could detect the four hero flavours of the beer such as, ‘passionfruit’ and ‘creamy wheat’. If our influencer or journalist could detect all four, their taste had officially returned.

With a budget of just $20k for media and production, the campaign results were:

2.2MIL earned media impressions

+180% increase in bottle store distribution

+95% increase in sales vs. previous product launch

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